Liked it. As I suspected, the whole "new recruit learns of the existence of Torchwood and is offered a job with them" angle was as hackneyed as I'd expected.
I thought Indira Varma was meant to be a regular character, so having her turn out to be a baddie, and a quickly-dead one at that, was a surprise. But WHY did she have to use such a ludicrously-designed knife to kill people? All she needed was for one of her colleagues to take more of an interest in these peopel who are turning up conveniently dead for them to use the gauntlet on and she'd be rumbled. Maybe she knew they wouldn't, which is why they hire Gwen as her replacement, to act as their mobile conscience.
I'm sure there weren't any more of them than in any episode of CSI or Without a Trace (said shows being everal minutes shorter), but all the loving aerial vistas of Cardiff did get a bit much after a while.
So. . . The place wheer the TARDIS was parked in "Boom Town" now retains a low-level perception field. Rrright. More tellingly, Jack can't die as a result of his being resurrected by uber-Rose in "The Parting of the Ways." Less Captain Harkness, more Captain Scarlet (I wonder if that's intentional?). But can an invulnerable hero ever maintain any sense of dramatic danger? And suppose he'd shagged Carys (or even Gwen if they'd gone through with the "use me instead" plan rather than it being a trick), would he be resurrectable from a pile of dust? And what is the significance of the Hand in a Jar? And how did he get back from the 2002nd century? Was his arrival in (or sometime prior to) our present intentional, since he knew that the Doctor was visiting regularly so Rose could see her Mum, or an accident/happy coincidence?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I've only watched the first episode so far, but it brought up a point I've wondered about before. When Americans show up on British TV shows, are they forced to use British pronunciations of words? The IMDb says John Barrowman grew up in Illinois, so I have to assume he knows full well that an American would not say "east-rogen". Does the BBC feel that their viewing public would just get too confused by a completely authentic American accent?
I'll be interested to see what happens if he ever has to say "alumin(i)um".
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
How would you pronounce it? "Est-rogen?" I don't know. His family is Scottish so I guess he could have an unusual pronunciation style.
And, apparently the severed hand is that of the Doctor from "The Christmas Invasion."
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
We pronounce it "ess-trogen" in North America. They did the same thing with Doctor Who this year, pronouncing "ex-ee-ma" in the American sense, instead of "ex-imah" as they do in the UK.
Mark
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Bizarrely, the Bedtime Story on tonight's CBeebies was read by. . . John Barrowman! I've noted that many of the others who do the Bedtime Story (last slot just before the BBC's junior children's channel closes for the night at 7pm) seemed kinda familiar, so obviously it's a bit of a celeb-zone. This is also excellent news, because a coupla weeks back the girl they had reading the story was really, really hot. }B)
John Barrowman: "Him, I'm John. This is a story called Bumpasaurus." Me: "Holy shit!" Tallulah: "Daddy naughty!"
My daughter loves watching "Beebies." It's driving us mad. I hear Kate absently whistling the Fimbles tune. Half-asleep one night I came up with the "plot" for a pornographic version of Balamory. We need help. . .
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Concerning Jack's TARDIS-induced immortality, he mentions to Gwen that he knows of only one doctor that can help him, and that he's looking for him.
$$ Doctor Who spoilers $$
And from Season 3 rumors, we know that the Captain will meet the Doctor again in, presumably, the Season 3 finale.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Not just the finale - the last three episodes supposedly feature Jack, and by extension Torchwood in SOME capacity.
However, considering the chronological locking with present-day Earth the current Doctor Who has, this encounter will likely take place after the end of the Torchwood season and before the beginning of the second season, which (knock on Torchwood) the ratings seem to ensure at this time.
Scuttlebutt has it that Jack's presence on present-day Earth will not be addressed in the first season; thus it'll most likely be taken care of on Doctor Who where it belongs. Jack's Who-related backstory is a minor part of his character - it doesn't work, story-wise, for a Character's main motivation to consist of waiting around until someone from a another active series can come fix him. So the whole immortality thing, and more importantly his search for the Doctor, will surely not be mentioned much more after this week.
Jack's character stuff has already been established in the premiere as being his immediate previous occupation as a time-travelling con man hanging around WWII. We'll likely delve into his relative past that way, instead of worrying about his comparatively brief time aboard the TARDIS.
***
New question! Questionable morality on Torchwood. Aside from the Glove of Life, we also see Owen goofing around with what is essentially a date rape drug in the form of Axe Body Spray. While the whole gag was essentially a poke at just that product, it implies that Torchwood is indeed missing a moral compass, allowing people like Owen to misuse alien tech for a quickie with a blondie, and when caught by the boyfriend, a threesome to escape it (though not the cool kind).
While Owen was seemingly repentant at the end, it demonstrates some more serious undertones that Torchwood is far from an heroic organization. The crew of Firefly, anyone? Discuss.
Mark
Posted by Zipacna (Member # 1881) on :
Out of interest, who actually pays the people at Torchwood. I mean, back when it was first shown in Xmas Invasion no-one, not even the PM, was meant to know it exists. If the government doesn't know Torchwood exists, then presumably the Chancellor of the Exchequer won't be able to budget for it every April...so who pays their bills? Or do they use alien technology to get food, booze and fags?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"We pronounce it 'ess-trogen' in North America. They did the same thing with Doctor Who this year, pronouncing 'ex-ee-ma' in the American sense, instead of 'ex-imah' as they do in the UK."
I don't recall what you're referring to, offhand, but are you talking about the word "eczema"? Because, I don't know about Canada, but, around here, I've only ever heard it pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Well, following the origins of Torchwood, I suppose it could be funded by the House of Windsor. They ARE awfully rich, and until the 1990s didn't have to pay taxes.
This in turn begs the question of who they DO answer to. The Torchwood Institute was founded by Queen Victoria, and through the ages was supposed to understand and fight supernatural threats to the Empire (which in the Doctor Who universe means aliens or sci-fi nasties of all types) and to use what they learn for the benefit of said Empire. In the UK, their influence is probably absolute. THe UN can't intervene anyway, so Jack's dramatic "we rock" speech was a little moot - though it was probably a dig at the UN's resistance to letting the BBC use "United Nations Intelligence Taskforce" on the show anymore.
Okay, I've seen the second episode now, and I'm really liking the show. Fairly original take on the crime drama genre, really just mixing CSI and the C-Files together with a slick modern locale. I'm not familiar at all with Cardiff and only peripherally knowledgeable with how Wales is regarded byt the rest of the UK, but if this is suppsed to make Cardiff look like a cool place to be (as opposed to the "eww, gross!" we got from Rose in DW S1), score one for BBC Wales!
More notes:
-The Life Glove isn't disappearing. It'll be back.
-They all but scream "IT'S THE DOCTOR'S HAND!!!" in the second episode. Torchwood must have recovered it after the Sycorax invasion, and Jack got his hands on it after that. Knowing what it is (plus any files left over from T1), Jack should know the Doctor has regenerated, and what he looks like.
-Why does Torchwood-3 look run down? Torchwood-1 was all "The Office" with everyone in suits or low-cut power dresses, slick and clean with soldiers and spaceships everywhere. I guess that T1, as the HQ, had all the cool stuff happening, and was where they kept all the top people and artifacts. Cardiff and Glasgow could be satellite offices for whatever reason, and now that the HQ is gone, they're taking up the slack.
-Likewise, while T3 was apparently built out of an old secret tube station, it was apparently done so a long time ago - there are tiles around the facility like "Cold Storage 1-6" and the wooden-doored morgue which suggest Torchwood remodelled the place many years ago.
-I take it the Torchwood guns are customized pistols of some sort, though Jack uses a service revolver contemporary to the rest of his outfit.
Mark
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I've seen the second episode now, too. I find it interesting that the show was described as an "adult" spin-off of "Doctor Who". I guess "adult" means that, rather than having aliens who fart, we get aliens who fuck.
(I kid. I fully intend to continue watching the series.)
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I find it a bit odd that Jack is sticking to old RAF-style clothing. He wore much more contemporary stuff in "Boom Town" and the two-part finale of season 1 - before and after having his outfit vapourised. So on returning to the present he must have deliberately gone out to obtain some clothing of this "look." Which seems rather an affectation. . .
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
a) Cardiff is cold.
b) Apparently, most the time.
Jack's whole outfit is an anachronism, head to toe. He'll be wearing different clothes next episode though. Maybe he just likes the WWII overcoat? And service revolver, even though much better weapons are around?
And has anyone noticed that Jack doesn't drink alcohol? Even in the bar, he only drinks water. Also, he doesn't swear like the others, and hasn't displayed any of his trademark omnisexuality. Now that he's actually in charge of something besides himself, I guess he's beome a slightly more accountable man. Doesn't stop his penchant for standing on top of tall buildings for no real reason, though...
There are spoiler rumours going around that the piece of coral on his desk is in fact TARDIS-related, and that both he and it have been on Earth for a much longer than you'd think...
Mark
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
I didn't realise the coral was spoilery. The Radio Times(TV listings mag) casually mentions that it's the TARDIS Jack's been growing for the last 30 years. There are also Cybermen diagrams on the back wall of his office, apparently.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"So on returning to the present he must have deliberately gone out to obtain some clothing of this 'look.' Which seems rather an affectation. . ."
Well, I don't think think anyone would be too surprised to find that Jack has a bit of a foppish streak.
"Now that he's actually in charge of something besides himself, I guess he's beome a slightly more accountable man."
I kind of figured it was the dying and being resurrected that changed him. That it made him more focused. (Specifically, for example, focused on finding the Doctor and getting an explanation(?)/remedy(?).)
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
I watched the eps last night on BBC2 and was very impressed. It's not the most amazing scifi series ever, but it's not bad. The only parts I didn't like were the two times characters stood on roof tops for no reason whatsoever. In the first, Jack even had a dreadful Horatio Caine pose.
Also, being slightly distracted by Jack's pronunciation of oestrogen(Brits spell it differently too...), I completely missed what the hell his little speech was all about. Why was there oestrogen all over the place?
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Something about contraceptive rain. I wasn't paying too much attention, as the welshness was melting my brain.
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
It was a pretty pointless speech about how many birth control pills are taken. It's enough that it washes into the sewers, eventually back to the water, where it evaporates and then rains down on him to the point where he can smell it. The speech had absolutely nothing to do with what was going on.
Mark
Posted by Not Invented Here (Member # 1606) on :
Personally, I'm a bit dubious about the series. Only watched the first ep mind, some of us have work to get up for on Monday mornings
It was alright overall, but there were several little bits that annoyed me, much like the main series of Doctor Who. Perhaps that shouldn't surprise me. For instance, the whole Torchwood backstory makes absolutely zero sense to me. Especially given Jack's "Someday I'll meet the Doctor again" speech, but simultaneously knowing about the Sycorax Invasion and the Cybermen battle (And having the Doctor's hand in a jar...). Maybe this will be cleared up later, but right now a little part of my brain is screaming PLOT HOLE in a rather loud voice.
Like someone above said, having a main character who can't die just seems a little too convenient as well. Also, to whoever posted that little had been made of Jack's omnisexuality - did you not notice the "He looks good in a suit", "Oi, that's sexual harrasment speech!"? Seems like Russell T Davies is planning to get a little bit more mileage out of the "In the future people don't care about homosexuality" idea.
Finally, the air shots of Cardiff and Jack standing on top of tall buildings irritated me. It felt like someone had said, "I know, let's shoot somewhere cheap just so we can save enough to spunk on hiring a helicopter for the day". Maybe it's just me and my Southern English ways, but you need much more than a helicopter to make Cardiff as cool a location as, well, anywhere else. The Welsh accent is just not sexy.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...but simultaneously knowing about the Sycorax Invasion and the Cybermen battle..."
But, everyone knew about that. That was the whole point of what he said about them. These were highly public events, but the public pretends they never happened because they aren't ready to deal with it.
Just because Jack knows about the events doesn't mean he was anywhere near them (or the Doctor). I mean, I know about the war in Iraq, but that doesn't mean I've met Saddam Hussein.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)